France stands alone

As the game go by, the victory points accumulate. And it is clear that France is taking the lead. The King of France will tell you that it is not his fault, everyone rushes to Paris to marry splendid women. Artists are recognised at court and it is rumoured that the French privateers were happy in their expeditions against Spain.
But then, Europe agrees, we must make sweet France bow her head.
As far as weddings are concerned, everything stops. The essential has been done the previous rounds and it would be dangerous to marry further. Spain, once again an ally of the Holy Empire, declares war on the French. The French then ally themselves with the Protestants. The sultan, disappointed by his attempts to pierce the Suez canal, again declares war on the Spanish Christians. As for the English, decidedly tenacious, he remains at war with the French.
Initially, the Spanish realize that they might have problems: the French alliance allow the Huguenot to move to Holland to pose a solid threat. The fight is taking an ugly face: the imperial alliance is broken, leaving the Duke of Alba's army alone against the Protestant coalitions. In response, the Catholic plays the Union of Arras, which eliminates all Huguenot mercenaries and returns Dutch territories to him. On the whole, the two opponents will neutralise each other in the Netherlands. In spite of his alliance, the Protestant attempted many conversions, which were also fiercely opposed by France. The revolts spread over the hexagon, but the Protestant is contained.
Meanwhile, in  Coruña, a gigantic fleet is being built. Will the Armada strike Portsmouth or Brest? Such is the haunting question that one asks oneself in the Louvre. To help Madrid minding his own business, the French plays Moriscos revolt. Cordoba and Seville rise up, forcing Spain to take valuable actions to recover its key cities.
For his part, the Ottoman did not have a good hand of cards. Too many missions and too few points. Rather than embark on an uncertain conquest, he prefers to cleanse the Mediterranean of the Spanish fleet. El Escorial decided to leave the Venetian ally to the Empire, a strange idea that earned him a victory point but deprived him of an essential ally against the Turk.

In the great book of explorations, an unknown captain, Sir Francis Drake tries to pass Cape Horn. It will never be heard of again. A bad navigator seems to be...
On the other hand, the French colonies report: a certain Virginia Dare (not too French as a name but it is a victory point) is the first girl to be born in a New World colony.

At the end of the round, the scores are more and more telling. France leads the way, leaving Spain and the Ottoman far behind. English is on the rise thanks to active piracy. As for the Protestant, he notices by himself that he is below the score of the Empire, which is not played ... 

This observation is irrevocable for France. At the beginning of round 5, everyone except the Ottoman declares war on him. There will be no mercy, cry havoc... The French player tries to point out that if the Ottoman takes Naples and Rome, he'll win, but the spirits are too hot, war to the French!

Despite this consensus, the French player's opponents are not allies. And they will continue to work against each others. The Protestant is the most dangerous. He  tries to seize Paris via a rebellion, without success. All his sermons are followed by counter-preaching which extend the revolts but don't allow him to seize the capital. An accusation of witchcraft even allows the Frenchman to steal a card from his hand, thus reducing his possibilities of action.
Spain could prevent France from winning, but at the price of her victory. She therefore decides to attempt automatic victory by triggering the Powder Plot against the Virgin Queen. ALL the players around the table advised the English to choose the Walshingam's card to protect himself from spying actions. The Spaniard plants a spy in London without any English reaction. Then he lays some Jesuits in England. Still no reaction. Step by step, and thanks to an active counter-reform, Philip II gained victory points and he could even win  for Catholicism supremacy.
When the Powder Plot conspiracy is launched, everybody confidently await the English card play. It is then that, red with shame, the queen announces that she does not have it in her hand. Amazement and laments in all the European courts! 

The whole world holds its breath as the firm Spanish hand throws 12 dice. With 5 hits, it is the end of the game and the victory of uncompromising Catholicism. The dice stop at ... 4 hits!
Very nice Spanish attempt that almost stole the victory. London and the surrounding area revolts, condemning the English to suppress rebellion in his territory until the end of the round.
In the east, it is the Ottoman who could win by capturing two key cities. Despite deserving efforts and whole buckets of dices thrown , he will suffer a shameless misfortune. It took him three attempts to painfully seize Naples and he will fail in Rome on the last attempt of his last card, leaving two soldiers taunting his entire army.
All eyes were then on France. He was two victory points short of winning. Feeling that one more turn would be fatal, the French monarch bets everything on a lucky roll. A painter is found and ordered to paint something that will leave the other courts speechless and give victory to Paris.
The drawing of the patronage actions is done at the very end of the round. France needs an 8 to win. Once again, the eyes of the sovereigns are concentrated on the dice track. Dices roll ... and it is with a masterful 12 that Henri III comes to win the game, confirming that French women are the most beautiful and that it is possible to win with the arts and without crossing swords. 

It was a beautiful game, full of twists and turns and suspense. The French trajectory is usual; the sequence of the initial marriages made him win a lot of victory points at the beginning of the game. It is also usual to see France eated by protestant rebellions, but here Spain played its part by containing the Protestant in Holland and preventing him from doing anything else.
The Turkish player was really unlucky because he met very little opposition and would have won with an average dice roll. As for Spain, faced with a multitude of threats, it almost won on a daring bet. Even the English did well because he finished 2nd ex aequo with Spain in the score. Only one regret: not having played with six.